Wikipedia:Wikipedia Syndrome

Wikipedia Syndrome
Other names	WikiSyndrome, TheStrayDog Syndrome
Specialty	Psychiatry, clinical psychology
Usual onset	Early adulthood
Duration	Desperate need to read wikipedia articles through wikilinks
Types	mental illness
Causes	Unknown
Risk factors	High blood pressure; family history (genetics)
Diagnostic method	Based on symptoms, medical imagine, genetic testing, blood tests
Medication	Not yet
Frequency	Unknown
Deaths	Not yet

Wikipedia Syndrome or TheStrayDog Syndrome also shortly known as WikiSyndrome is a mental disorder that causes a chronic addiction to reading Wikipedia articles found via links in other Wikipedia articles. The main identifying feature of Wikipedia Syndrome is the act of visiting Wikipedia to reach an article or piece of information, but going down a mad rabbit hole of wikilinks instead of finding what you had originally intended to find. This cycle of reading Wikipedia articles often continues for hours or days.

Based on Urban Dictionary, Wikipedia Syndrome is: «the act of going to a site with the intention of looking up one piece of information, and instead finding yourself on one or more articles that have nothing to do with what you had originally come for. Stems from Wikipedia linking to articles within articles.»

Etymology and discovery

After deciding to be a Wikipedian, TheStrayDog found out he can't leave Wikipedia. So he went to the libraries to find out what the hell is wrong with him. He found nothing there, so he went to the doctor. Talking with a psychiatrist was a great pleasure for him and he thought that they are good people but he needed to resolve his problem. At the end, he came here and made this crappy to ensure "you are not alone" and all wikipedians who have wiki syndrome are welcomed here to write their discoveries about the disease.

TheStrayDog and the Wikpedia Syndrome Movement

TheStrayDog is the first Wikipedian who mentioned ever himself as a Wikipedia syndrome user. He nowadays is trying to show the reality of disease and its bad results to other people of the earth. His motto for this movement is "Let Us Be".

Attacking against TheStrayDog

After saying his motto in the one of his speeches in somewhere in the earth, a wiki-extremist came to him to fight saying "let that ass be". Eventually TheStrayDog said to the press conferences: «that was a terrorist rebellion against a civic and peaceful movement.». He also mentioned the most major goal of his works which is "informing people about the Wikipedia syndrome".

Differences between Wiki Syndrome and WikiPhobia

Wiki syndrome is a mental disorder whereas Wikiphobia is a psychological phenomenon and irrational horror against Wikipedia and Wikimedia project. Usually leading by dictatorial regimes, the main cause of wiki-phobia is fake propaganda against the project.

Template

• {{WikiSyndrome}} — A Wikipedia template for the Syndrome.